1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a fishing rod and a line guide thereof. Specifically, this invention relates to an external pass-though type line guide, that includes a metal frame mounted on an outer circumference (outer surface) of a rod and a guide ring supported by the metal frame. This invention especially relates to a line guide that includes a mono-cock type frame in which front and rear mounting legs mount on the rod, a circular ring holding part holds the guide ring, and front and rear support legs, connected to the ring holding part and the front and rear mounting legs, are punched together as one body from a metal plate and bent to shape. This invention also relates to a fishing rod that includes a plurality of line guides having such a structure.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventional line guides that are used for external pass-through type fishing rods basically include a frame that has a ring holding part that holds a guide ring, a mounting part for mounting the ring holding part to a rod, and a connecting part that connects the ring holding part and the mounting part. The mounting of the line guides to the rod is a so-called binding type mounting. For this type of mounting, a frame for a line guide, used for a fishing rod that is targeted to catch medium or larger size fish, has mounting legs, provided at the front and rear sides of the frame, for mounting to the rod, in order to provide sufficient strength. Usually the frame has a structure in which the front and rear mounting legs and the ring holding part are connected by support legs. Normally two rear-side support legs are positioned at the left and right.
In general, this type of frame has a mono-cock structure in which each part is shaped unitarily from a metal plate. That is, the frame is ground after each part, such as the ring holding part, front and rear mounting legs and support legs described above, are punched together from a metal plate and bent as necessary.
Conventional line guides having such a mono-cock frame are described in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application 48-85377 and Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application 63-137630.
However, for external pass-through fishing rods, a problem arises that the line is easily tangled with the line guides since the line guides protrude from the rod.
This problem can be solved by shaping the frame such that the line does not easily tangle with the line guides, and such that, even if the line does get tangled, the line is easily untangled. In addition, other strategies can be implemented to ensure that the structures that obviate the tangling problem do not sacrifice other functions or requirements, such as lightweightness of the fishing rod and low production cost. Especially, an increase in the weight causes an increase in shaking of the rod, and thus the line is more easily tangled.
The above problem can be overcome by providing a frame having a shape, in which, by lengthening the rear support legs to reduce the inclination thereof, a line tangled by being wound around the frame slides on, and is easily released from, the rear support legs.
However, if the rear support legs are made longer, the overall length of the frame, when punched from a metal plate, increases. Therefore the material cost increases, and more weight is added, since the size increases.
The present invention addresses the conventional problems described above, and has an object of providing line guides for fishing rods which not only extremely reduce the inclination of the rear support legs just by lengthening rear support legs, but also suppress weight increase and material costs, so as to enable the manufacture of a fishing rod at low cost and which can easily solve the problem of line tangling without a perception of heaviness.
To achieve this object, a line guide for a fishing rod according to the present invention includes a frame, comprising front and rear mounting feet that are to be mounted to a rod, a circular ring holding part having a center axis extending in a direction substantially parallel to said fishing rod when the mounting feet are mounted to the rod, one front support leg extending from an apex of the ring holding part on a side of the ring holding part nearest the rod, connected to the front side mounting foot, and two rear support legs, each extending from any position of the ring holding part between the sides at the center of the ring holding part and an apex of the ring holding part on a side opposite the side nearest the rod, and connected to the rear mounting foot, and a guide ring fitted inside the ring holding part. Each part of the frame is punched together as one body from a metal plate and bent to shape. The length of the rear support leg is longer than the total length of the front support leg and the front mounting foot. The front support leg and the front mounting foot are punched out from inside of the rear support legs. The height of the front support leg is no longer than half of the outer diameter of the ring holding part.
In addition, a fishing rod according to the present invention has a plurality of line guides. Each line guide includes a frame, comprising front and rear mounting feet that are to be mounted to a rod, a circular ring holding part having a center axis extending in a direction substantially parallel to said fishing rod when the mounting feet are mounted to the rod, one front support leg extending from an apex of the ring holding part on a side of the ring holding part nearest the rod, connected to the front side mounting foot, and two rear support legs, each extending from any position of the ring holding part between the sides at the center of said ring holding part and an apex of the ring holding part on a side opposite the side nearest the rod, and connected to the rear mounting foot, and a guide ring fitted inside the ring holding part. Each part of the frame is punched together as one body from a metal plate and bent to shape. On all of the line guides, except for a line guide nearest the base of the fishing rod and a line guide nearest the tip of the fishing rod, the length of the rear support leg is longer than the total length of the front support leg and the front mounting foot, the front support leg and the front mounting foot are punched out from inside of the rear support legs, and the height of the front support leg is half or less of the outer diameter of the ring holding part.
Therefore, in accordance with the frame of the line guides of the present invention, since the height of the front support leg is kept low, the line is not easily tangled, and accuracy of casting increases due to the fact that twisting of the rod during casting does not easily occur. In addition, the inclination of the rear support legs is extremely reduced simply by lengthening the rear support legs by just a small amount, and therefore a line that is tangled on the frame can easily be untangled. Furthermore, since the increase in the weight, caused by increasing the size of the support legs, is substantially negated by the weight reduction, caused by reducing the height of the front support leg, the overall weight of the frame does not increase by a great amount.
Moreover, because the front support leg and the front mounting foot can be formed by using material from the inner area surrounded by the rear support legs that is usually discarded, the overall length of the frame does not become long when it is punched from a metal plate, even if the rear support legs are made to be long. Therefore, an increase in the material costs can be prevented, and processing of the rear mounting foot after punching can be achieved easily, since the front mounting foot is not punched out from the rear mounting foot.
In accordance with an implementation of the present invention, if the ring holding part of the frame is pressed to form a cylinder, with a narrow, circular belt-like area left along an edge of the inner circumference, the rear support legs extend from the rear edge of the ring holding part with almost no change in direction, so there is no protrusion protruding locally to the sides. Therefore, it is even harder for the line to get tangled on the frame, and the ring holding part is further strengthened.